Unlocking Expository Text
American History Foundations
August 9, 2012
Fran Macko, Ph.D.
fmacko@aihe.info
Framing the Session
• Why are history texts
often difficult for
students to comprehend?
• What skills and
strategies do students
need to become expert
readers of history?
• What can history
teachers do to help
struggling readers in
their classrooms?
What factors affect the
readability of history texts?
• Lack of prior knowledge
• Unfamiliar text
structure or schema
• Difficulty identifying
important material from
less important material
• Academic vocabulary and
abstract concepts (“isms”)
• Level of analysis and
synthesis
• Role of visuals, such as
maps, graphs and charts,
as sources of information
What are the keys to reading history?
• Effective readers of history
have a variety of
comprehension strategies
that they bring to reading a
text. These strategies can be
grouped in three categories:
– Before reading or
activation of background or
prior knowledge
– During reading or active
engagement with the content
– Continuous or
metacognition
• Effective readers of history
are in charge of the process,
monitoring how they read
and adjusting to ensure
success.
Why do students struggle with expository text?
• Expository text makes up 90% of adult reading.
• Yet, students in elementary school spend an average of 4 minutes
per day with expository text.
• As a result, students are most familiar with narrative text, and
are unprepared to be effective readers of expository text.
• Students need to know how expository texts work, how to
prepare to read them, and what to do once they begin reading.
• The strategies for reading expository text are often not modeled
for students.
How do narrative and expository text differ?
• Narrative and expository text
differ in their organizational
pattern, language and
purpose.
• Narrative text typically
follows one structure or story
grammar.
• Narrative text includes such
elements as theme, plot,
conflict, resolution,
characters and setting.
• Expository text explains
something and reflects a
variety of structures or
organizational patterns:
definition, cause-effect,
sequence,
categorization,
comparison/contrast,
enumeration, process,
problem-solution, and
description.
• The main purpose of
narrative text is to tell a
story.
• Narrative texts have a
beginning, middle and end.
• Students read narrative text
for enjoyment, to analyze
story grammar, and
appreciate the author’s
writing style.
• The purpose of expository
texts is to inform or describe.
• Expository text often reflects
research on a topic.
• Students read expository text
to gain factual information,
identify main ideas and
trends, and analyze divergent
viewpoints on a topic,
individual or event.
Narrative and Expository Text
A Comparison
Narrative
Reader’s Purpose
•
•
•
•
•
•
Enjoyment
Interpret character
Appreciate style
Analyze plot
Identify story grammar
Critically evaluate
Expository
Reader’s Purpose
•
•
•
•
•
•
Identify main ideas
Determine trends
Consider implications
Identify viewpoints
Interpret visuals
Critically evaluate
Narrative
Typical Language
•
•
•
•
•
Personal and informal
Diverse vocabulary
Dialogue
Expressive and emotive
Action, humor and style
Expository
Typical Language
• Formal prose
• Descriptive
• Technical terms and
concept words
• Visual supports
Narrative
Typical Organization
Expository
Typical Organization
• Narrative (tells a story)
• Genre characteristics
(novel, short story, play,
poem)
• Story grammar (setting,
character, plot, climax,
resolution)
• Structured (subheadings and case
studies)
• Maps, charts and
pictures
• Main ideas and details
• Chronological sequence
• Cause and effect
So…how can we help students unlock
expository text structure?
• Understanding how a piece of text is organized helps students make
sense of their reading.
• Each organizational structure presents distinct features and suggests
questions that effective readers consider before, during and after
reading.
• Understanding the features and elements of text supports students in
their ability to navigate through the text and increases their
understanding of the relationship between the concepts presented and
the structure of the text.
• The more opportunities students have to discover and become familiar
with the features of expository text, the greater their ability to become
effective readers.
Comparing Narrative and Expository
Text Structures
• Select two passages on the same historical topic: one
narrative and one expository.
•
Have students read each passage and consider a set
of questions based on the three elements of text
structure:
• Purpose: Why did the author write this passage?
• Vocabulary: What kinds of vocabulary/language does the
author use?
• Structure: How is the text organized?
Modeling the Strategy
Modeling the Strategy:
Narrative Text
• Read the excerpt from The
Winter of Red Snow.
• Answer each of the
following questions:
• Purpose: Why did the
author write this piece?
• Vocabulary: What kinds
of vocabulary/language
does the author use?
• Structure: How is the
text organized?
Checking for Understanding
• Purpose: Why did the
author write this piece?
• Vocabulary: What
kinds of vocabulary
words or language does
the author use?
• Structure: How is the
piece organized?
Modeling the Strategy: Expository Text
• Read excerpt from: “Valley
Forge Encampment- A
Winter of Suffering”.
• Answer each of the
following questions:
• Purpose: Why did the
author write this piece?
• Vocabulary: What kinds
of vocabulary/language
does the author use?
• Structure: How is the
text organized?
Checking for Understanding
• Purpose: Why did the
author write this piece?
• Vocabulary: What
kinds of vocabulary
words or language did
the author use?
• Structure: How is the
piece organized?
Comparing Narrative
and Informational Text
• What themes/ ideas/ concepts do both pieces share?
• How does the author’s choice of language and
organizational structure support his/her purpose?
• How can the comparison of narrative and expository text
support student understanding of events in history?
• Turn and talk with a partner.
Bridging the Gap:
Historical Fiction and Picture Books
• Historical fiction and
quality content picture
books combine the
elements of narrative and
expository text.
• Each can be used to
support students in
understanding the
differences between
narrative and expository
text.
Adapting Unlocking Expository Text
Structure to Your Classroom
• How might you use the
strategy of comparing
narrative and expository
text in your social
studies classroom?
• What adaptations to the
strategy can you make?
Next Steps
• Depending on the goal of the reading, teachers can
help students better understand how expository texts
work and read them more effectively by teaching them
how to:
– identify the text elements of a paragraph.
– recognize the transitional words that signal important
information or a shift in focus.
– establish the organizational pattern--e.g., cause-effect,
definition, persuasion
– organize the information within an expository text into
an outline for subsequent analysis.
– use available
information such as
subheadings to orient
and focus their reading.
– identify the main ideas
throughout the text.
– develop their own
questions and apply
them to the text.
– take effective notes for
subsequent discussions
or writing assignments.
Final Thoughts
• Understanding how a
piece of text is organized
helps students make sense
of their reading.
• Students need explicit
instruction in
understanding the
differences in purpose,
vocabulary and structure
between narrative and
expository text.
• Understanding the features and elements of text
supports students in their ability to navigate through
the text and increases their understanding of the
relationship between the concepts presented and the
structure of the text.
• The more opportunities students have to discover and
become familiar with the features of expository text,
the greater their ability to become effective readers of
history.